Printing-press.



- No. 637,603. Patented Nov. 2|, I899.

E. HETT. v

PRINTING Pnsss. (Application filed am. 21, 1899.)

4 sham-sheet (No Model.)

S IINVENTOR WM WITNESSES ATTORN J Tn: Momma FEYERs 0o, PuoTo-umouwmumcmn, a. c.

E. HETT. PRINTING PRESS.

(Application filed Jan. 21, 1899.)

Patented Nov. 2|, I899.

(No Model.)

4 Sheets-Shut 3.

"-mTQRNEYm n4: mums mm in. me

Patented Nov. 2!, I899.

E. HETT. PRINTING PRESS; (Application filed Jan. 21, 1899.

(No Model.)

INVENTOR WW BY W ATTORNEYe/ WITNESSES me "yams PETERS co, PNOYO-LIYHQ.WASHINGTON 04 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD HETT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PRINTING-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of IlettersPatent No. 637,603, dated November21, 189 9. Application filed- January 2 1, 1899. Serial No. 702,896. (Nomodel.)

T0 or whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD HETT, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, (New Dorp,) in the county of Richmond and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPrinting-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My inven tion relates to rotary sheet-presses.

It has special reference to and, is especially valuable in lithographicsheet-printing presses.

It has for its object to improve the printing member or members. of suchpresses; to do away with the use of cumbrous and heavyprinting-surfaces, especially the fiat cumbrous and heavy stone surfacesheretofore employed in lithographic sheet-presses, and to substitutetherefor rotary tubular printing: surfaces circumferent-ially unbrokenand continuous in printing-surface, light in weight, capable of beingplaced in or removed from the press readily, economically, and withoutinjury to the press or to the printing-surface or to its support,suitably supported, so as to be capable of accurate register during theprinting operation; also, generally, to improve and simplify theconstruction and operation of such presses and to improve theirefficiency and working capacity; also, to provide improved means forregulating the pressure between a printing-cylinder and theimpression-cylinder; also, to provide improved means for removing andreplacing printingcylinders, and, lastly, to provide improved means foroperating the inking and dampening mechanisms.

My invention consists of the novel features of construction andcombinations of parts herein shown and described.

I-Ieretofore it has been customary in the practical use of presses forprinting upon sheets, and especiallyin presses for printing upon sheetsin the lithographic manner, to use flat printing-surfaces, such as flatstones or fiat zinc plates. Such stones and plates are necessarily veryheavy, cumbersome, and expensive. They are, moreover, wholly unfittedfor use in rotary presses or in multicolor presses. In my improveddevice I employ one or more printing-cylinders, each consisting of anexterior hollow tubular form or upon it.

shell and an interior form-supporting device readily separable from eachother and removable from the press, the former having an outer roundedprinting-surface circumferentially continuous and unbroken, with animpression-cylinder larger in diameter than the printing cylinder orcylinders and having suitable impression-surfaces and intervening blanksurfaces or depressed surfaces.

I have shown in the drawings of this case my improved device as embodiedin a rotary lithographic sheet-press, although my invention in some ofits aspects is not limited to the use of my improved devices in such apress.

I will now proceed to describe the preferred form of my improved deviceshown in the drawings, in which similar numerals in the differentfigures refer to corresponding parts.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the middle of the press. Fig.2 is a rear elevation, and Fig. 3 a side elevation, of the same viewedfrom the left. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing a number ofprinting-cylinders in position.

1 is the framework of the press; 2, the impression-cylinder; 3, thefeeding-table, and 4 and 5 are delivery-tapes rotating upon wheels 6 and7, respectively.

8 and 8 form a rotary lithographic-printing cylinder. Thisprinting-cylinder consists of an interior supporting form-cylinder 8,with an exterior hollow printing-tube 8" mounted The printing-tube 8 isa hollow tube and has an outer smooth unbroken circumferentiallycontinuous rounded lithographic-printing surface. It is shown, forexample, in the following pending applications filed by menamely, SerialNo. 537,582, filed February 7, 1895; Serial No. 568,179, filed November7, 1895, and renewed January 20, 1899, Serial No. 702,845; Serial No.735,445, filed November 1, 1899; Serial No. 735,446, filed November 1,1899, and Serial No. 701,196, filed January 5, 1899. The printing-tubeis slipped over a suitable interior supporting form-cylinder and is adju stably secured there on and removable therefrom at will, and the wholedevice, consisting of the inner supporting form-cylinder and the outerprinting-tube, can readily, economically, and safely be removed from thepress and reinserted therein.

present invention will'not be furtherrde scribed.

16 is a swinging frame also pivoted upon shaft 10, supporting the usualdamping-rollers 17 and adapted, as will be hereinafter described, tomove the damping-rollersinto or out of operative position.

-18I.is a water-roller'mounted upon oscillating arm19, and adapted, aswill be'hereinafter described, to carry waterfrom-water-fon ntain roller20 in water-fountain 21 to dampingrollers 17.

-of tautness;

-26 -working in slots in:plate 26 and in the& framework ofthe-impression-cylinder andby;

Impression-cylinder 2hasa plurality of impression-surfaces. As shown inthedrawvings, it has two, 22 22, eachadapted in conjunction withprinting-tube 8 to printasina rglesheet. Between these impression-surfaces are depressed surfaces 23. The impression-surfaces 22 22 havethe usual rubber co'vering24, secured at one endby bolts and at theother moved upon a roller 25, by means of which it can be kept attheproper degree At each end of the impressioncylinder'are-two rim-segments26. Each of these rims extends only part way aroundthe periphery of theimpression-cylinder and registerswith one ofthe depressed surfaces 23.,

It is-supported upon and forms part of a s'eg' mental plate 26*, whichis secured to th-erim pression-wheel by bolts 26 and screws and nuts 26,passing through screwthreaded. opening 27 in'the framework of theimpres-'- sion-wheel. These rims 26 engage with similar:

rimsiS upon the printing-cylinder 8 8 when the: depressed surfaces 23are under it andprevent that cylinder from dropping downa ward at suchtimes, By means of the-bolts:

means-of=screw bolts and nuts 26 working? in openings 27 rims 26 can bemoved slightlyi' inward or outward-to compensate for varying thicknessesof the rubbercoverings 24 and;

the paper used, and thus tendto prevent jars, :and so that it will runsmooth. 7

28ris a gear-wheel mounted upon thesh-aft of impression-cylinder 2 andhaving teethi =m eshing-with gear-wheel 29, mountedxuponi the-shaft ofform-cylin'derSfor the purpose; of communicating motion'from theimpresfl sion-cylinder tothe printing-cylinder. 1

30 30 are grippers forseizin g and holding the sheet upontheimpression-cylinder. Springs 31 fo-rce-the grippers to seize and:hold :the? sheet. Cam 32-upon theframework strikesg the end of thegripper as the gripper reaches it in .its revolution and releases thesheet, which is at once seized by grippers 34 on wheel 6a nd is drawnover that sheet onto delivery-tapes 4 and thence to delivery-tapes 5.

33 are curved arms to support the sheet as it passes beneathimpression-cylinder 2.

=35-"35are-side guides to properly register the sheet.

36 is a stop to prevent the feeding of a sheet while the depressedsurfaces are opposite to the printing-cylinder. Stop 36 is connectedto-andis lowered and raised by rod 37, pivotally connected to stop 36 byarm 38 and carrying at its other end wheel 39, bearing against cam 40,the latter mountedupon the shaft of impression-cylinder '2.

Swinging frames 9 and '16,;carrying "the inking and dampening rollers,respectively, are swunginto andaout of operative position by thefollowing-described mechanism:

41 is a hand-wheel mounted upon wormsh-aft'42, the worm upon theshaftengaging with worm-Wheel 43, mounted upon shaft 44:. 'Thisshaft 44has at-its upper end a worm 45,

which meshes, wi-th teeth45 ,with a segment of worm-wheel mountednponand integral with swinging frame 9. By turning hand- Wheeletl-oneway or the otherframe9 is swung-up' ordown.

-46 is a hand-wheel 011 therear of-theipress and is mountedupon'a'shaft-47, which carries a-worm 4:8 at'its inner end. This wormengages with-worm-wheel 49 upon shaft 50. *Upon this shaft is aneccentric-51,'carrying rod 52,-the latter pivotally secured at 53 to(swinging frame 16.

As hand-wheel 46 is turned one way or the other swinging frame 16 iss'wungup or down.

'The mechanism forgiving a reciprocating motiontowater-roller 18 tocause'it'to-conveyx-water from water-fountain roller 20 todamping-rollers 17 is as-follows:

Securedto' arm 19 by spring 55 is' arm 55,

ipivotally connected to rod 54, the latter-adapt- "ed to work up anddown in bearings 56 56 andicarrying wheel 57. 7 'Wheel 57 rests upon acam-surface 58, whichhas ahigherlevel at :one end than the other, thetwo level surfaces being connected by an inclined' plane :sur'face.Cam-surface 58-rests upon-sliding bar63. A screw 64 secured in thesliding bar, passes through a nut securedto cam-surface 58.

-59 is-a bar pivotally secured to sliding bar 63 at one end and at theother end to arm 60,

the latter-being mounted on theshaft of gearnwhe'el 161. Gear-wheel 61is driven bygearwheel62, mounted;uponthe'shaft of impression cylinder 2.

As these gear-wheels revolve sliding bar 63 moves backward and :forward,rod '54 rises and falls, and 'water- :10116118 oscillates betweenfountain-rol1er'20 and dampin-g-rollers'l7. The length of timed-uringwhich water-roller 18 makes contact -with water fountain'roller20 can bevaried -by:turning screw 6ito the right or left,-whi'chcauses cam-surface 58 tooccupy-a IIIOI'B'OI,

less forward or backward position upon sliding bar 63.

My improved device for removing and replacing the printing-tube orform-cylinder consists of the following-described mechan- 65 is a shafthaving a crank-handle 65 at one end and gear-wheel 66 at the other. Thisgear-Wheel meshes with gear-wheel 67, fixedly mounted upon revolubleshaft 69.

68 68 are arms fixedly secured to shaft 69 and having each a bent finger66 at its end encircling the ends of the shaft of form-cylinder 8. Theends of the shafts also rest in a bearing of which 70 is the bottomplate. Shaft 71 runs through an opening in plate 70 and is normallysecured in that position by nut 71*. By unloosening that nut and turningcrank-handle 65 form-cylinder 8 and printing-tube 8 can be raised intothe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, when the form-cylinder orthe printing-tube, or both, can easily be removed by means of standard75 or by any other suitable means. As these means form no part of mypresent invention, they will not here be further described or shown. Byturning hand-wheel 65 in the opposite direction arms 68 will be loweredand any form-cylinder or printing-tube borne thereon will be broughtinto operative position.

71 is a shaft passing at one end through plate 70 and secured in thatposition by not 71 and being screw-threaded atits other end where itpasses through the center of a wormwheel 72 and where it engages withscrewthreads out upon the interior of the wormwheel. A hand-wheel 74 ismounted upon a worm-shaft 7 3, the worms of the latter engaging Withworm-wheels 72. By turning Wheel 74 in one direction the pressurebetween the cylinder 2 and printing-tube S is increased and by turningit in the other the pressure is diminished, or the printingcylinder isentirely separated from the impressioncylinder, as when the pressisstopped.

Upon shaft 75" is mounted pulley 76, upon which runs belt 76 Gear-wheel76 is also mounted upon shaft 75 and meshes with gearwheel 77 upon theshaft of impression-cylinder 2, the teeth of gear 77 meshing with theteeth of gear-wheel 78, mounted upon the shaft of cylinder 6. By thismeans power is communicated through pulley 7 6 to impression-cylinder 2and cylinder 6. Gear 28 on impression-cylinder 2 meshes with gear 29 onform-cylinder 8 and drives the latter cylinder. Gear 28 also drivesgear-wheels 79 80, and through them and gear 81 on ink-distributingcylinder drives the latter cylinder and through it the variousinking-rollers by any well-known method of driving such inkingmechanism.

It will be noted that in my improved press the printing-cylinder makesat least two complete revolutions while printing but one impression.Meanwhile the dampening and inking mechanisms are continuouslyoperative. The printing-tube is thus dampened and inked twice as much asin the ordinary lithographic press and the printing is correspondinglyimproved.

In using my improved rotary printing-cylinder and printing-tube, withits continuous printing-surface, in a press for printing upon sheets itis necessary to use an impression cylinder with a circumference at leasttwice as great as that of the printing-cylinder, so

that a blank or depressed space upon the former will register with eachalternate revolution of the latter.- Preferably an impression-cylinderis used with two or more impression-surfaces and with two or more blankor depressed intervening surfaces, so that a plurality of sheets can beprinted at each revolution of the impression-cylinder. The workingcapacity of the press is thus increased and the impression-surfaces workmore satisfactorily.

My invention is not restricted to the use of but one of my improvedrotary printing-cylinderswith an impression-cylinder. As manyprinting-cylinders may be used with the impression-cylinder as thelatter has impression-surfaces, and the number of the latter can beincreased by increasing the size of the impression-cylinder. In such apress each printing-cylinder may be arranged, if desired, to print in adifferent colorfrom those of the other printing-cylinders. Sucha pressis shown in Fig. 4. The press there shown is provided with fourprinting-cylinders, each preferably adapted to print in a differentcolor from that of each of the other printing-cylinders. In this figureI have not shown the inking and dampening mechanisms and the drivingparts of the press,omitting all of these and other parts for the sake ofclearness. This figure is intended merely to form a diagrammatic sketchshowing the manner in which more than one printing-cylinder can bearranged around the impression-drum in embodying my invention in amulticolorsheet printing-press.

By my improved devices the construction of rotary sheet-printing pressesis simplified. The operation of such presses is improved and theirefliciencyincreased. The printingsurfaces of such presses are greatlyimproved. The printing member or members thereof are easily removableand replaceable and interchangeable. A plurality of sheets may, ifdesired, be printed at each revolution of the impression-cylinder, anddamping and inkin g mechanisms are made more efiective. My improvedpress, moreover, permits of the easy, economical, and safe insertioninto and withdrawal from the press of printing cylin ders or tubes andof their accurate adjustment in the press for the purpose of accurateregistering. It also provides simple and improved means for regulatingthe pressure betwenutheprinting and impression cylinders and 'also foroperatin'gfthe:inking'and damp-i ling mechanisms.

My'invention in some of its aspects isap-i plicable to cylindricalrelief plate-printing; as where a planographic or lithographic print--ingcylinder'is after the design is transferred itoit by suitable means,as by deep etching developed into-a relief-prin ting cylinder with?which; no damping devices'would be necesr-l sary in the printing. Myinvention,-moreover, makes it more feasible to obtain exacti I registerinprinting with more than one colori and more than one printing-surfaceat a;-

-ti1nethat is to say, in multicolor-printingand alsomore feasible toobtain such regis-= 'ter wherethe colors are separately printed?Moreover, the angular relationship of the printing and impressionsurfaces in their rolling contact when the latter is larger in' diameterthan the former and intermittent printingaction when its surface isdiscontinuous, taken in connection with the removability and exactinterchangeability of the printing-cylinders and their method ofsupport, achieves a very clear and readilycontrolled and superior andeconomical character of sheet-printing.

WhatlI claim as new, and desire to secure .by Letters Patent, is'- :1.The combination in a rotary printing press, of aprinting-cylinderconsisting of an interior form-supporting device and an 'exte-i riorremovable and replaceable printin g-t.ube,: having a circumferentiallycontinuous un-j broken printing-surface, with a circumferen- I'tially-discontinuous cylindrical impressionsurface llarger incircumference than the;

printing-cylinder, substantially as set forth.; L2. The combination in arotary lithographic v printing press, of a printing-cylinder consistingof an interior form-supporting device and an exterior removable andreplaceable printing-tube, havinga circumferentially continuous unbroken'l-ithographic printing surface, :with a.circumferentially-discontinuous cylindrical impression-surface larger incircumference thantheprinting-cylinder, substantially as setforth.

.3. In a press, the: combination with an impression-cylinder, of aprinting-cylinder supported in movable bearings, screw-threaded shaftssecured to said bearings,'worm'-wheels having screw -threaded openingsthrough which thescrew-threaded portions of the shafts extend, aworm-shaft andgworms thereon-adapted to mesh with the wormwheels andmeans'for'turning the wormshaft, whereby thepressurebetween'theimpression-cylinder and printing-cylinder may be varied or thetwo'cylinders may besepa- "rated, substantially as set forth.

4., The combination in a press with aswing ing frame adapted to carrythe inking ordam pening rollers, 0f a rod secured to the swingingframehaving a ringat its other end, an eccentric mounted upona-shaftand adapted to turn within said ring, a worm-wheel on saidshaft,a worm mounted upon a wormshaft and engaging with said worm-wheel, andmeans for turning the worm-shaftwhereby the inking or dampeningmechanism may be brought into orbe removed from operative position. I

In testimony whereof 'I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD HETT.

Witnesses:

EDWIN SEGER, GEO. W. MILLS, Jr.,

